Girlfriend Knows Best
by NotWriteInTheHead
Summary: Emily takes a moment to just look at her. Taking in her disheveled hair, her clothes wrinkled and stained. She was a mess. And Emily is pretty sure she's never loved her more. The fact that she offered to spend her Saturday watching a four year old, just so she could be in the good graces of her family, fills her up with all sorts of fuzzy feelings. She was so, unbelievably lucky.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pretty Little Liars, PLL owns and continues to toy with my heart.

**Girlfriend Knows Best**

* * *

"Can you tell me again why we agreed to watch a four year old on our break?"

Emily puts the bucket of toys down, turning to look at Paige sprawled out on the couch. Her girlfriend was unbelievable. "_We_ didn't agree to anything. _You_ did." Emily doesn't bother hiding her annoyance. She's annoyed and it's all Paige's fault. She should know how she feels, if for no other reason, so she could be just as annoyed. This was not one of those 'lie to your girlfriend to keep them happy moments'. Screw that.

Paige sits up, pouting. "Emmm, I had no choice." she argues, drawing out Emily's nickname so much that it's longer than her actual name.

Emily glares at her, "you had plenty of choices," she says, grabbing the bucket of toys. "You just chose the wrong one. You practically begged my aunt to watch him," she finishes, continuing her attempt at finding the living room floor. It was proving to be a much harder task than she initially expected, given the amount of toys strewn about. How much did one toddler need?

"I had to," Paige says, getting up from the couch.

"You really didn't," she shakes her head. "Now throw me that truck over there," she motions to the red and yellow Tonka toy lodged in between the couch cushions Paige previously occupied.

Paige grabs the truck and walks over to Emily, placing the toy into the bucket she was holding. "Em, I had to," Paige starts again, turning Emily fully towards her and placing her hands on either side of Emily's shoulders, firmly keeping her in place. "It's my job, my duty really, as the girlfriend. I must make your family fall completely in love with me." Paige smiles at her, "so if I have to offer to watch your terror of a cousin," she grabs Emily's face, giving her a quick peck. "I'm sorry babe, I'm gonna do it every time."

Emily sighs. Her girlfriend is a complete ass. A loving, kind, sweet, adorable ass, but an ass nonetheless. It's impossible to stay mad at a well intentioned, if somewhat misguided girlfriend. She should be used to this. Well intentioned, misguided, ill-timed situations seem to follow Paige around. It was her 'thing,' as Hanna called it.

Emily puts the bucket down and wraps Paige's arms around her waist, placing her own around Paige's neck. "You've been my mom's work-out buddy this past week, my dad kicked me out of the living room because I was interrupting his 'Paige time,' and you went shopping with my friends...without me. I'm actually starting to get worried that they all like you better than me," she jokes, giving Paige a lazy kiss. "My family loves you just fine. At least the ones that count," she finishes seriously.

"But your aunt..."

Emily kisses her again just to shut her up. "She'll still be here when we go back to school. And don't let my moms smiling fool you. She can only take Aunt Cynthia in small doses. Very small doses. I'd be surprised if we see her within the next year."

Paige's eyebrows stitch together in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

Emily smiles, "I'm sure." She kisses Paige one last time, bringing her arms with her when she pulls away. "Now come on, we have to clean up. If my mom sees the house like this, she might disown the both of us." She hands the bucket to Paige. The damn thing was annoying the crap out of her.

"She wouldn't?" Paige's asks, a horrified expression on her face.

Emily grins. "Remember that time you offered to wash the dishes?" Emily waits for Paige's nod of understanding. "She rewashed all of them after you left."

Paige gasps, "what, why? Did I do it wrong? They looked fine to me."

Emily covers her mouth with her hands, trying her hardest to stifle her laugh. She's not sure her girlfriend would appreciate being laughed at right at this moment. "They were fine Paige. You did an exceptional job, I promise. My mom is just crazy clean. It has nothing to do with you. She still loves you, I-" Emily stops short, a pink blob on the carpet catching her attention. She walks over to where it is, kneeling down to see it better. "Oh my god. How did...is this...did you give him gum?" She stands to look at Paige, horrified.

Paige shakes her head, "of course not...why would I...I wouldn't...no."

Emily raises an eyebrow at her, completely unconvinced. "So how did it get here?"

Paige shrugs, "how should I know? This is your house."

Emily lets out an exasperated breath, back to being annoyed. "Never. Ever."

"I'm sorry Em, okay? I'll clean up the gum, which again, isn't my fault. And I promise to never offer up our baby-sitting services again. We are officially out of business."

Emily waves her off. "I wasn't talking about that. I meant kids...in general. Never, ever."

"Really?"

"Really what?"

"You don't want kids?"

Emily shrugs, "well I don't know. I haven't seriously thought about it. Why, do you?" She asks, turning to face her.

"We're not talking about me."

"I didn't realize we were talking about anything."

Paige frowns. "We're...um, we're not," she stutters out, avoiding Emily's eyes. "Um, I'm going to check on Ty, he should be getting up soon and..." she trails off turning away.

"Paige." Emily keeps her voice even, though she's completely confused by her girlfriends sudden change in demeanor. "He's fine," she motions to the baby monitor, the quiet snores making her smile. "Paige, can you look at me please?" She doesn't care whats going on right now, Emily was not going to let her regress, especially after all the work they put into getting rid of that bad habit. "Please?"

Paige spins around before the word is fully out of her mouth.

Emily can't stop the smirk from taking over her face. Some habits die hard. Her girl was so easy.

"What is it Em?" Paige grumbles out.

Emily takes a moment to just look at her. Taking in her disheveled hair, her clothes wrinkled and stained. She was a mess. And Emily is pretty sure she's never loved her more. The fact that she offered to spend her Saturday watching a four year old, just so she could be in the good graces of her family, fills her up with all sorts of fuzzy feelings. She was so, unbelievably lucky.

Paige squirms under her scrutiny, but stays quiet.

Emily smiles. Yes, some habits were just never going to go away. "What just happened?" She asks. They don't really have time to do the back and forth they usually do.

"Nothing," she answers. And Emily can see Paige silently yelling at herself for answering too quickly.

It was moments like this that make Emily wonder how Spencer could, even for a second, think that Paige could be A. She could be wearing a bright yellow hat that spun and lit up with the word 'big fat liar' on it and it still wouldn't be as obvious as her own telling face. Forget sleeves, Paige wore her heart and all the feelings that came with it, in her big, brown, dopey eyes. A, what a laugh.

"Are you high? Why are you looking at me like that?" Paige asks, interrupting her thoughts.

Emily chuckles, shaking her head. "No, just come here," she reaches out and grabs one of Paige's hand and pulls them both down onto the couch.

Paige looks around the room, "are we no longer worried about the possible disowning?"

Emily takes the hand she never let go and brings it to her lap, holding it firmly between both of hers. "We'll get back to the cleaning just as soon as I find out why you went weird on me."

"Em," Paige pulls her arm, trying to move away.

Emily just holds on tighter, squeezing. "Paige," she whines her name out and pouts her lips for added measure.

"Ugh, you are a cruel one Emily Fields," she says, hiding her face in the couch cushions.

Emily pokes at her side, "just tell me."

Paige turns, her head still laying against the cushion, but her face towards Emily. She takes a breath. "I think you'll make an amazing mother."

Emily isn't sure what she was expecting, but she's sure that that wasn't it. "What?"

"I just don't think you should base your decision on future kids off of your adorable and somewhat spoiled cousin. Give it a few more years at least."

Emily stares at her, wide-eyed. She's not really sure what to say. Were they really even talking about this? "What?" comes out again.

Paige pulls her arm out of her grasp and get's up. "This is why I didn't want to say anything."

"What-I mean no...just sit down please," Emily tugs at her hand until she sits and waits until she can look into her eyes before continuing. "I just don't really know what to say. I mean, I don't even know if I'd be a good mother, how could you?"

"I said amazing...and I, I just know."

"How?" Emily genuinely wants to know now.

Paige doesn't miss a beat. "You're kind and loving and smart and funny. You're the least judgmental person I know, always looking for the good in people. You're as beautiful on the inside," she says as she tucks a strand of Emily's hair behind her ear, "as you are on the outside." She smiles. "You can't cook meals for anything, but you make amazing desserts, which completely makes up for it. You have these wonderful friends, who are as good as you are and they love and adore you so much. And you have these parents," Paige takes a breath, looking off into the distance.

Emily stays quiet, trying to keep her emotions in check, Paige's words overwhelming her.

After a moment, Paige's eyes meet hers again. And they are clearer than Emily has ever seen them and she has to force herself to hold her gaze.

"You have these parent's...that are supportive beyond the reassuring hugs. And they love you as much as humanly possible. They send you care packages and they call you every other day, leaving encouraging texts when they know you're busy. They call me to make sure I bring you home and they have your favorite meal waiting when I do. You have amazing parents Em. You have amazing people in your life that have made this...amazing girl that I love so much."

Emily can't stop the tears from falling and she doesn't try. This was becoming a much heavier Saturday than she was prepared for. "Paige, I-"

Paige kisses her and wipes at her tears with her thumbs. "I know you're going to be an amazing mom because there really aren't any other options," Paige smiles at her and kisses her nose. "So I think we- you, should wait a few more years and at least have a conversation with..._whoever_ you're with, before you decide."

Emily has never been more aware of a word and felt as conflicted about how she should feel about the use of it, as she is by Paige's 'whoever'. As if it could be just about anyone, when in Emily's mind, there is only one possibility. "How about we talk about it after college?"

Paige grins at her and Emily can't help but do the same.

"Sure. How about we start practicing right now?"

Emily laughs as Paige starts kissing at her neck, pushing her down onto her back. "Paige, we both know that's not how it works."

"Who cares," Paige ignores her, sucking on the spot behind her ear that she knew did things to her.

Emily let's herself enjoy it for a second. "Paige, Ty is upstairs..."

Paige shoots up. "Right. And this is your parent's couch. And the house is still a mess." Paige gives her a disapproving look, shaking her finger. "Shame on you and your distractions. You want your mom to disown me don't you? You're totally jealous of our relationship."

Emily throws the pillow at her. Her girlfriend was unbelievable.

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**A/N:** Okay...so apparently I can't NOT write cutesy, fluffy stuff. Whatever, Marlene and co. have got enough angst going on in Rosewood, I don't need to add anymore. The fic I'm trying to get out has angst, so if that ever get's posted, you will get your fix. As always, I hope you enjoyed it and I know I don't thank you enough, but I appreciate the reviews and favorites and whatever else you wonderful people do. Thanks. Also, skjhjskg;sd f*ck titles, I really can't.


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